She also says in the letter to The Indianapolis Star that Pence's Center for Education and Career Innovation criticizes the work of the Education Department and encroaches on her role in implementing education policy.

The letter comes in the wake of a tersely worded memo from CECI criticizing Ritz's submission of a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind requirements, including grammatical errors.

The partisan squabbling is just the latest in an ongoing battle that drew criticism from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan who said in January the state was facing "deep dysfunction".